1. Field
This invention relates to both RFID and non-RFID portable printers and to method and apparatus of enabling an RFID printer or a non-RFID printer to read and/or write to RFID transponders disposed outside the printer. The expression “RFID” is short for radio frequency identification.
2. Brief Description of the Prior Art
The following documents which may or may not be prior art are made of record: U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,483,624; 5,486,259; 5,793,032; 6,327,972; 6,409,401; 6,652,170; 6,761,316; 6,830,181; 6,916,128; 5,804,807; 6,467,688; 6,484,933; 6,775,034; 6,991,159; 7,180,627; 7,416,129; U.S. Provisional Application 60/193,282; U.S. Provisional Application No. 60/338,870; U.S. patent application Ser. Nos. 09/877,015; 10/873,979; 11/365,480; 11/383,363; EP 0 571 734 A1; EP 0 996 084 A2; brochure of Alien ALR-9780; brochure of “SkyTech SkyeRead M1; Brochure Skye Module M9 of SkyeTech, Inc., copyright 2005-2006; six page brochure pages entitled HMC 226/226E of Hittite Microwave Corporation, Chelmsford, Mass.; and IP4 Portable RFID Reader (UHF) Product Profile Brochure printed Mar. 7, 2007 Intermec Technologies Corporation. Additional references to prior art are to be found under the heading “Detailed Description of the Preferred Embodiments”.